School's started!

How did it get to be N's junior year?

He was just going into third grade when we started our homeschool adventure. In a little over two years, he will be in college full time and I'll be.....what? Someone asked me the other day what I would do after we were done homeschooling. I don't know the answer, but I will in a couple of years. The list of things I want to do is long and varied. Plus, I know God will be opening doors I haven't even considered. In the meantime, I want to enjoy what's left of our journey...which, this year, includes Bible, astronomy, the Renaissance, American history, geometry (sigh), personal finance, and a study of Shakespeare's comedies.

I'm really looking forward to the Shakespeare study. After being fed a diet of tragedies in high school, I was well into my forties before I realized how much FUN good ole Will could be.

Happy learning!

Reading List

Summer's almost done but my reading list is not. How did that happen? In fact, the list is getting longer. A sale at a bookstore will do that.

Years ago, while running my photography business, I would rise before the sun to spend an hour reading, studying, and thinking. I like getting up early. I love thinking and creating new ideas. Why am I not doing this now?

Bad habits. Things like hitting the computer message boards before breakfast or watching re-runs of JAG. Or just plain piddling.

If it were quality things like spending time with The Pilot Guy or exercise that would be different. Both of those things deserve their own catagory of time devotion. But I'm just not getting things done.

Time to do better. Dust off those old habits and get back into them. Hopefully, they'll fit like well worn and comfortable shoes.

Look for reviews of these books in coming posts.

What?

What's that you're asking?

Oh, you want to know the titles and author names of the books on the reading lists? Why? Will there be a test? No? Yes? Maybe?

Well, okay, here they are in no particular order:

Homeschooling High School by Jeanne Gowen Dennis

Designing Effective Women's Minstries by Jill Briscoe, Laurie Katz McIntyre, and Beth Seversen

Eat Smart, Walk Strong by Leslie Sansone

A Strong West Wind by Gail Caldwell

The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry

The Plot Thickens by Noah Lukeman

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

A Garden Path to Mentoring by Esther Burroughs

Writer Mama by Christina Katz

The First Five Pages byt Noah Lukeman

My Heart's At Home by Jill Savage

Mrs. Whaley and Her Charleston Garden by Emily Whaley in conversations with William Baldwin

Happy reading!

Scuba Gear, anyone?

I've taken on a number of challenges and projects in the past few weeks. Most notably becoming the new women's ministry leader at my small church. Lots of time sensitive things that need to be handled sooner rather than later. Coupled with the need to finish preparing curriculum for Nathan's junior year, I find myself so over my head I need scuba gear to survive the day.



That's on top of all the gardening that needs to be done. The rains of June have turned into rampant weeds in August. There's one or two closets that need to be cleaned out, but they've been messy for a while. They'll be all right until I get to them. There are stacks of books that need to be listed for sale. A wreath for the back porch is waiting for re-do. Normal stuff like what we are going to eat or wear nag at me, too.



And writing. I really hate leaving characters hanging while I tend to other things.



Organization is the only way to survive feeling overwhelmed and organization takes creativity for me. Using my time well and writing things down so I don't forget is part of the skill set I'm using. These things do not come easily or naturally to me. Working from lists, I'm tackling parts of each project every day. I love the satisfaction of crossing things off my lists.



If I'm writing the lists on a purple notebook with a purple pen, well, that's just for me.